During the 2012-2013 school year, Indian River Charter High School students gained real world science and education experience while participating in ORCA’s Save the Water Babies Program. Students in grades 9-12 used ORCA’s Ecotoxicity Program to help map pollution in the Indian River Lagoon.

Generously funded by an Impact 100 grant and named for the alarming number of first-born baby dolphins in the lagoon that are dying from toxins built up in their mothers’ bodies, the Save the Water Babies Program trained IRCHS students using ORCA’s Ecotoxicity Program to collect and analyze sediment samples from the lagoon. The students utilized the data they gathered to create a color-coded map showing the degrees of pollution in the lagoon and shared their findings with the community. Read how Kids Help Map Pollution in the Lagoon.

- Click images below to enlarge -

Nitrogen Levels

Phosphorus Levels

Toxicity Levels

x

Indian River Lagoon Nitrogen Levels

Indian River Lagoon Phosphorus Levels

Indian River Lagoon Toxicity Levels

The Save the Water Babies Program not only taught students how to use the scientific method to solve pressing real-world problems, created a dialogue within the community about how their actions (or inactions) may contribute to the death of marine mammals.